A service provided by the BC Centre for Disease Control
Sign Up To Receive an Email When We Publish New Blog Posts
STI updates are blog posts from the BCCDC or our community partners about a variety of sexual health topics. These include program updates, clinical practice changes, new research, events, and more. We will not clutter your inbox with frequent emails, and your email address will not be used for any other purposes.
March 26, 2014 by Daniel Grace, PhD, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, and Mark Gilbert, Physician Epidemiologist, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC
Background We set out to learn what HIV-negative gay men in Vancouver understood about sexual safety and their experiences of having anal sex without condoms. Participants were asked to talk about their everyday social and sexual lives, including the kinds of sex they have, their understanding of risk, the different HIV prevention strategies they use,…
February 19, 2014 by Patricia Howard, Regional Aboriginal Coordinator, Blood Borne Pathogens Services, Northern Health Authority
Background Prince George (Northern Health Authority) was one of two locations selected for the BC STOP HIV/AIDS Pilot Project (Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside was the second). The HIV population in Prince George has been identified as a priority site since the region represents many of BC’s HIV cases. To work collaboratively with partners in identifying and…
February 13, 2014 by Darlene Taylor, Research Program Manager, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC, Heather Pedersen, Research Assistant, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC
Background A recent survey at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) assessed client perspectives on the implementation of electronic health records (EHR) at the BCCDC Provincial Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) clinic. An EHR is a digital version of a patient’s medical record or chart, instead of a paper chart. EHRs are gaining popularity because…
January 29, 2014 by Yuko Homma, Post-doctoral research fellow &, Elizabeth Saewyc, Professor and Director, Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre, UBC School of Nursing
Background Lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) students are often targeted for bullying and discrimination at school, and these victimization experiences may increase their health risks. Schools are responsible for providing safe and supportive environments for all students. How can schools help to create such spaces? Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) are student-led clubs that aim to create a…
December 19, 2013 by Carole Lunny, Interim Research Manager, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC, Devon Haag, Online Services Manager, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC
The BC Centre for Disease Control held its 6th annual Research Week this past November 2013. The aim of Research Week is to showcase the many different areas of research within the Centre. Clinical Prevention Services contributed a number of oral and poster presentations specific to sexual health and STI research. For further information, the…
November 20, 2013 by Mark Gilbert, Physician Epidemiologist, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC
Background There are only a few internet-based testing programs that have been designed with gay and bisexual men in mind. While we know that gay and bisexual men do use these services, we don’t really know what impact these services have at a population level. We also don’t know whether internet-based testing reinforces or reduces…
November 6, 2013 by Dr. Gina Ogilvie, Medical Director, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC, Heather Pedersen, Research Assistant, Clinical Prevention Services, BCCDC
Background The ASPIRE project (Advances in Screening and Prevention in Reproductive Cancers) is a novel approach to cervical cancer screening that is effective, low-cost, acceptable, and ideal in low-resource settings. ASPIRE aims reduce the global burden of cervical cancer through its cost-effective, community-based model of cervical cancer screening that focuses on capacity building in local…
October 29, 2013 by Jordan Sang, Communications & Administrative Coordinator, Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men’s Health
Background The Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men’s Health (CBRC) was the first of its kind to introduce a training program to engage young gay men in hands-on research and capacity building. Building on the success of the Totally Outright program (a sexual health leadership program for young gay men, which began in 2004), the…
October 9, 2013 by Mark Gilbert, Physician Epidemiologist, Clinical Prevention Services & Co-Principal Investigator, CIHR Team in the Study of Acute HIV Infection in Gay Men
Background In a previous update we described the window periods of different HIV tests in BC. In this update we will focus on pooled nucleic acid amplification testing (pooled NAAT), which can detect HIV an average of 10-12 days after infection. This technology combines samples from HIV antibody-negative specimens into pools which are then tested…
September 18, 2013 by Yuko Homma, Post-doctoral research fellow, UBC School of Nursing, Elizabeth Saewyc, Professor, UBC School of Nursing
Background In British Columbia, about 90% of adolescents of East Asian backgrounds (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese) have never had sexual intercourse. However, among sexually experienced teens, most have engaged in risky sexual practice. BC has a growing number of people of East Asian (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese) descent. But little is known about health and…